Are you feeling overwhelmed by all the ideas you have for your business? In this episode, we dive deep into how to determine priorities in business and what to focus on to grow your business effectively. Learn how to plan like a corporation and handle a backlog of projects with ease. We'll share clarifying questions that will help you prioritize tasks, align with your values, and contribute to your most immediate needs. Watch now to discover actionable strategies that will make your business journey smoother and more fulfilling.

Key Takeaways:

- The importance of proactive planning in business operations.

- The concept of treating yourself as both the boss and the employee.

- The significance of asking clarifying questions to identify your next priority.

- The idea of glass plate versus paper plate tasks and how to prioritize them.

- The role of your personal values in setting business priorities.

Summary of Resources:

- The One Thing: The Surprisingly Simple Truth Behind Extraordinary Results by Gary Keller

- Listen to Planning for Sustainable Success: Mapping Key Activities & Benchmarks for the Year Ahead

If you found this episode helpful, share it with a business friend who might also benefit from these insights. Don't forget to follow us on your favorite podcasting platform and connect with us on YouTube, Instagram, or TikTok.

Stay tuned for our next episode, where we'll be sharing behind-the-scenes of our podcast.

Connect With Us:

Jess Website

Rachel's Website

__________

Work with Us 1:1

Rachel's Services

Jess's Services

__________

Learn with Us

Get Jess's Sustainable Success Systems Starter Kit, a Notion Business Management Systems that takes your business from overwhelmed to organized with 4 foundational workflows. <<Learn More Here>>

Diagnose Common Launch Problems and Fix Them Fast! Get the Launch Cure Guide : https://www.thelaunchcollaborative.com/launch-cure

Get Rachel's Guide to a High-Converting Email list to learn 4 shifts to elevate your emails & embrace sustainability in your marketing. <<Get it Here>>

_________________

Hang Out & Say Hi!

Deeply Rooted Business Instagram

Jess Instagram

Rachel's Instagram

Speaker: 00:00:00

jess-_1_05-17-2024_130446: Well, hello

and welcome back to another episode

2

: 00:00:04

of the deeply rooted business podcast.

3

: 00:00:07

My name is Jess, your

resident operations expert.

4

: 00:00:11

And I'm here joined by the lovely

Rachel, our marketing mastermind.

5

: 00:00:17

Today we're going to be talking about

something that I think a lot of business

6

: 00:00:20

owners struggle with, and that is setting

priorities and trying to figure out

7

: 00:00:23

out of all of the different Things that

you have going on in your business.

8

: 00:00:28

What do you focus on next?

9

: 00:00:29

I think a lot of times as a business

owner, you can feel like you're

10

: 00:00:34

like herding cats or spinning a

bunch of plates how do you know

11

: 00:00:37

which one to start spinning first?

12

: 00:00:39

And how do you, then you keep

them spinning so that they

13

: 00:00:42

all don't crash to the ground.

14

: 00:00:44

rachel_1_05-17-2024_130446: There's a

level of overwhelm that's just like

15

: 00:00:47

inherit, in business where you're

either having client work, you're

16

: 00:00:51

doing promotion, you're doing planning.

17

: 00:00:53

And a lot of the times these paths

and these timelines overlap, and then

18

: 00:00:58

you get another idea and you're like,

where does this fit into the plan?

19

: 00:01:02

So hopefully today.

20

: 00:01:03

We'll give you some clarity and some

direction on what to do when one, two,

21

: 00:01:10

or three ideas pop up and it doesn't

quite fit into the existing schedule.

22

: 00:01:15

jess-_1_05-17-2024_130446: Yeah.

23

: 00:01:15

So I think some couple things to keep

in mind is typically as a small business

24

: 00:01:20

owner, as a solo entrepreneur, I know

that that's who most listen to us.

25

: 00:01:25

We forget to prioritize planning,

which I think is the downfall of a

26

: 00:01:30

lot of not the downfall, but what

keeps a lot of businesses going.

27

: 00:01:34

Owners stuck, is that lack of proactive

planning because you really don't have to

28

: 00:01:39

do it because there's no one to plan with.

29

: 00:01:42

A big shift in my business

started happening.

30

: 00:01:44

When I started treating myself . the boss

and the employee and planning out things

31

: 00:01:49

ahead of time and really taking those

times to pause and reflect and really

32

: 00:01:55

identify where the holes or where the

gaps are in my current business because

33

: 00:01:59

that is going to really be how you pull

out what your next priority should be.

34

: 00:02:05

rachel_1_05-17-2024_130446: Yeah.

35

: 00:02:05

I love the reframe sometimes when you have

to think I'm an employee, I got to get

36

: 00:02:11

this client work done versus I'm a CEO.

37

: 00:02:14

How do we be more strategic?

38

: 00:02:16

How do we push the

business forward in a way?

39

: 00:02:19

So it is a mindset shift.

40

: 00:02:21

You almost need to treat yourself

as two people when you're doing

41

: 00:02:25

that, because as the employee, you

can be busy and you can have all

42

: 00:02:28

these excuses and that may be not.

43

: 00:02:30

feel like your responsibility,

but as the CEO, that is a hundred

44

: 00:02:35

percent your responsibility to

plan, even if you are alone.

45

: 00:02:38

It's really important to live as

those two people in your business.

46

: 00:02:43

Cause we all wear so many hats

and these two areas are very core,

47

: 00:02:48

like distinguished foundations

to actually grow your business.

48

: 00:02:53

jess-_1_05-17-2024_130446:

so I always recommend working

49

: 00:02:55

on a 90 day planning period.

50

: 00:02:57

So every 90 days setting aside some

time to step into your CEO role so

51

: 00:03:02

that you can really reflect and analyze

the data in your business, but then

52

: 00:03:06

also ask some of these clarifying

questions that we're going to go into.

53

: 00:03:10

And one of my favorite

questions that I asked when I,

54

: 00:03:14

thinking about a lot of things.

55

: 00:03:15

And it could even be with

my daily to get to list, it's

56

: 00:03:18

gotten a little out of control.

57

: 00:03:20

I'm trying to figure out what to focus on

that week or for those 90 days is what's

58

: 00:03:24

the one thing that by doing so would make

everything else easier or unnecessary.

59

: 00:03:29

And I think that's a

great focusing question.

60

: 00:03:32

It's not my question.

61

: 00:03:33

It's a question from the book

called the one thing which

62

: 00:03:36

is one of my favorite business.

63

: 00:03:38

Books as far as productivity and time

management goes and I really think that

64

: 00:03:42

that question helps narrow down a lot

of fluff because you could focus on

65

: 00:03:48

a lot of things that I'm sure if you

asked yourself that focusing question,

66

: 00:03:51

you could figure out that one thing

that would make your life easier down

67

: 00:03:54

the line or that you wouldn't even have

to do if you did this one thing first.

68

: 00:04:00

But I think it also pulls out the core

root of usually what's keeping you stuck.

69

: 00:04:05

And we talked about how important

it is in one of our apps.

70

: 00:04:07

recent episodes about how important it is

to get comfortable being uncomfortable.

71

: 00:04:13

And I find a lot of times when I'm

asking myself that focusing question,

72

: 00:04:17

it's the one thing is something

that makes me kind of uncomfortable.

73

: 00:04:20

And I've been , procrastinate working

around it, trying to avoid it.

74

: 00:04:25

But if I did that one thing, then

everything else would fall into place.

75

: 00:04:28

rachel_1_05-17-2024_130446:

It's reality, right?

76

: 00:04:29

I'm in a place right now where I'm

very, very much in employee mode.

77

: 00:04:34

Cause I have so much going on and

you haven't seen me promoting my new

78

: 00:04:39

product online because I'm just acting

as the employee and trying to keep

79

: 00:04:44

everything moving in a direction.

80

: 00:04:45

And so I think it's really important

to understand that There's a

81

: 00:04:48

lot of shoulds in business.

82

: 00:04:50

Like you should do this, you

should do this, should do this.

83

: 00:04:53

But this clarifying question of one

thing to make everything easier or

84

: 00:04:58

unnecessary, distinguishing that

in your current task list or your

85

: 00:05:03

current project list is so important to

really give you that clarity and not.

86

: 00:05:09

Waste time because that's

essentially what I'm doing now

87

: 00:05:12

where I'm like, I should do this.

88

: 00:05:14

I should do this, but I

really need to be doing this.

89

: 00:05:17

And I think that that's a big

distinguisher between the shoulds

90

: 00:05:20

and the needs because there's a lot

more needs in business than the pool

91

: 00:05:25

that you feel that you need to be

doing or that you should be doing all

92

: 00:05:29

of these other aspects in business.

93

: 00:05:31

jess-_1_05-17-2024_130446: Yeah.

94

: 00:05:31

So I love the clarifying

question to really pull it out.

95

: 00:05:33

And like I said, you can use

it at different time periods.

96

: 00:05:35

You could set a weekly focus.

97

: 00:05:37

You could set a monthly focus.

98

: 00:05:39

And then the next question is

which project if completed would

99

: 00:05:43

make me feel the most fulfilled?

100

: 00:05:45

Because there are a lot of things

that you need to do in your business.

101

: 00:05:49

Sometimes.

102

: 00:05:50

With myself, I'm feeling

myself pulled to something else.

103

: 00:05:52

So there's , Oh, I need to be doing this.

104

: 00:05:54

But like, it's not really

fulfilling me anymore.

105

: 00:05:56

So is there a deeper something

underneath it that I need to shift?

106

: 00:06:00

So that I can build a business

that is truly aligned with me.

107

: 00:06:03

You can ask that clarifying question,

what would make everything else easier,

108

: 00:06:06

but easier to get to what, , so staying

focused on what your ultimate goal

109

: 00:06:11

is or the why behind why you started

your business, personally, not your

110

: 00:06:15

mission, but your internal why.

111

: 00:06:17

Of why started your business.

112

: 00:06:19

I just posted something about

this on Instagram about , my kids

113

: 00:06:22

are going to be off or whatever.

114

: 00:06:24

And a lot of my projects will be

delayed for at least the first month.

115

: 00:06:27

It's just inevitable.

116

: 00:06:29

And I could , try to create some crazy

work schedule to just work around

117

: 00:06:32

them, being at home, or I could

just be , Well, the reason why you

118

: 00:06:35

built this business was to have this

flexibility so that you could take this

119

: 00:06:38

time off during the summer with them.

120

: 00:06:40

And that's where it's like, okay, so

what would make everything easier and

121

: 00:06:43

necessary right now is just releasing

the shame and guilt and all the

122

: 00:06:46

things that I want to be doing and

being okay with just growing a little

123

: 00:06:50

slower for the next couple of months.

124

: 00:06:53

rachel_1_05-17-2024_130446: Yeah.

125

: 00:06:53

I think that enjoyable part is really

so important because then you just

126

: 00:06:57

start to resent your business when

you're doing things that you don't quite

127

: 00:07:01

enjoy and you're taking on projects.

128

: 00:07:04

And I think even from a bigger picture,

your offers should be enjoyable as well.

129

: 00:07:09

There needs to be that layer

of enjoyment and fulfillment in

130

: 00:07:14

everything that you're doing, whether

it's like who you're working with.

131

: 00:07:18

What you're delivering and then

the projects that you're actively

132

: 00:07:22

pushing through in your business.

133

: 00:07:24

Cause it's one of the things that I

think is probably the biggest perk

134

: 00:07:27

of running your own business is that

you have the ultimate say, you have

135

: 00:07:32

full control to pivot and be like, not

feeling this, , let's do something else.

136

: 00:07:37

If we live in the world of.

137

: 00:07:38

Nine to fives or corporate or whatever.

138

: 00:07:41

You don't necessarily have that privilege.

139

: 00:07:43

So that's one of those things that I

think you should take full advantage

140

: 00:07:46

of as a business owner to say, no,

no, no, this is a non negotiable.

141

: 00:07:51

It needs to be fulfilling.

142

: 00:07:53

It needs to light up something inside.

143

: 00:07:56

Cause if not, you're just

going to burn out faster.

144

: 00:08:00

jess-_1_05-17-2024_130446: All right.

145

: 00:08:00

So our next clarifying question is, what.

146

: 00:08:02

best contributes to your

most immediate needs.

147

: 00:08:06

And when Rachel and I were discussing

this episode, she brought up this concept

148

: 00:08:10

called glass plate versus paper plate.

149

: 00:08:13

So can you let everyone

know what that means?

150

: 00:08:16

rachel_1_05-17-2024_130446: Yeah.

151

: 00:08:16

I mean, as a business owner,

you are constantly having

152

: 00:08:19

your hands in multiple pots.

153

: 00:08:21

Whether that is social creation, building

a brand or doing something along the

154

: 00:08:26

lines of developing the business,

maintaining clients and all of that.

155

: 00:08:31

So if there are certain areas of your

business that are like, you cannot drop

156

: 00:08:36

the ball on that, that is a glass plate.

157

: 00:08:39

Like if it's spinning in the air

and you're trying to maintain

158

: 00:08:41

everything and you're like, shattered.

159

: 00:08:44

If it's something that you're like,

you know, like branding, like I

160

: 00:08:48

got clients, clients are coming in.

161

: 00:08:50

It's a desire, a want, that's more of

a something that can get pushed off.

162

: 00:08:54

So I always try to reframe this

of saying the things that you're

163

: 00:08:58

prioritizing in your business should

be an impact based off of a Either

164

: 00:09:04

a gap or a very specific goal.

165

: 00:09:07

So if your sales are really, really

slow, the last thing you want to be

166

: 00:09:11

doing is investing in big projects

that aren't quite going to have the same.

167

: 00:09:17

turnaround or ROI immediately.

168

: 00:09:20

So you really want to shift your focus

to more sales generating tactics and

169

: 00:09:26

less into kind of the , Oh, I want

to rebrand the website, or I want to

170

: 00:09:31

start this new strategy kind of thing.

171

: 00:09:34

So really understanding what is the

glass plate and what is the paper plate.

172

: 00:09:39

in your particular business is going to

help you understand, what you actually

173

: 00:09:43

should be prioritizing right now versus

what you are trying to do all at the

174

: 00:09:48

same time, when you're planning and you

can go back and listen to the, okay.

175

: 00:09:53

annual planning episode that we did, you

should not have 10 plus goals a quarter.

176

: 00:09:59

Realistically it should be three

and those should be weaved into

177

: 00:10:04

where your business is currently.

178

: 00:10:06

Existing at.

179

: 00:10:07

And so if you're over here saying , Oh,

I have 10 major goals in my business

180

: 00:10:12

and they're all glass plates.

181

: 00:10:14

You need to reshift some things.

182

: 00:10:16

Cause that is not sustainable, at all.

183

: 00:10:19

jess-_1_05-17-2024_130446: Yeah,

I think too, this is one of the

184

: 00:10:22

things that's so easy to fall into.

185

: 00:10:25

And I see myself doing it.

186

: 00:10:26

I see my clients doing it.

187

: 00:10:28

It's taking on too much and one of the

phrases that have been popping up or

188

: 00:10:32

one of the Instagram, reels that I want

to create on text is , you can't time

189

: 00:10:36

manage your way out of overcommitment.

190

: 00:10:38

If you're getting and taking

many projects on, you're

191

: 00:10:41

going to feel overwhelmed.

192

: 00:10:42

It's about finding the one things that

are going to make the biggest shifts

193

: 00:10:46

right now and knocking that off your plate

first and then going to the next thing.

194

: 00:10:51

The last one we talked about

is, which project is integral

195

: 00:10:54

to upholding your values.

196

: 00:10:56

So really Staying true.

197

: 00:10:57

Obviously we all value money,

but like we have enough numbered

198

: 00:11:02

at least a men, like a month.

199

: 00:11:04

I have two numbers.

200

: 00:11:05

I have a monthly minimum of this

is what I need to make every month

201

: 00:11:09

to be able to sustain my lifestyle.

202

: 00:11:11

The way it, I have come accustomed

to, and then I have my enough

203

: 00:11:16

number where it's like, okay, I

could live and do everything in my

204

: 00:11:19

entire life with this much number.

205

: 00:11:21

And then like, that's the

goal that I'm getting to.

206

: 00:11:24

So obviously that's a value too, but then

you have other values too, which for me,

207

: 00:11:29

a big thing is flexibility, being able

to take off in the middle of the week When

208

: 00:11:32

my kids are home or that sort of thing.

209

: 00:11:34

Or, maybe, diversity inclusion,

as business centers, it's always

210

: 00:11:38

just tempting to stay focused

on the money related projects.

211

: 00:11:42

And , of course that's something

that we all value slash need.

212

: 00:11:45

But it's also important to

focus on other projects as well.

213

: 00:11:50

So that's just my plug for operations

because I think a lot of people will

214

: 00:11:54

focus on sales and marketing without

shoring up their operations foundations.

215

: 00:11:59

And that is just going to create a

really stressful environment for you.

216

: 00:12:03

If you continue to scale your sales and.

217

: 00:12:05

Don't have the operational

components to support that scaling.

218

: 00:12:09

So it's important that you get a

nice mix of where you're selling,

219

: 00:12:13

selling, selling, and then you may

have to pull back and slow down

220

: 00:12:16

sales, let them stabilize for a minute.

221

: 00:12:18

And shore up the operations so that

you can support another push of

222

: 00:12:21

sales again, cause that's really

how you grow in a sustainable way.

223

: 00:12:26

rachel_1_05-17-2024_130446: You've said

it best in all of our systems episodes

224

: 00:12:28

where it says systems is self care and

if you prioritize self care in your

225

: 00:12:34

personal life, you 100 percent should be

prioritizing it in your business as well.

226

: 00:12:38

Cause we've all burnt out and it

is a very hard road to climb out of

227

: 00:12:42

or very hard hole to climb out of.

228

: 00:12:44

jess-_1_05-17-2024_130446: We have a

whole episode on quarterly planning, but

229

: 00:12:47

if you wanted to do a quick and dirty

quarterly plan, you could write all your

230

: 00:12:51

ideas and projects down and then take

all of these questions and prioritize

231

: 00:12:55

them based on what we just asked.

232

: 00:12:58

And then just begin to set your focus

project, . Don't be afraid just to

233

: 00:13:02

fully commit to one thing for either a

two week sprint or a one month sprint,

234

: 00:13:06

depending on how heavy your client

workload is, and really focus on that

235

: 00:13:10

one thing and, move the needle on that

first, and then you can always add on

236

: 00:13:14

another project but when you've gotten

too many going in one time, that's really

237

: 00:13:20

where you're going to, , run into the

stress, the overwhelm The nothing ever

238

: 00:13:24

actually making it out into the world.

239

: 00:13:25

And that is what I definitely

want to help people avoid.

240

: 00:13:29

rachel_1_05-17-2024_130446: Let's do a

quick recap on the clarifying questions

241

: 00:13:32

so that everybody can do this ranking

of your projects the first one is

242

: 00:13:37

which project, if completed, makes

everything else easier or unnecessary?

243

: 00:13:43

The second one, what project

or which project, if completed,

244

: 00:13:47

would make me the most fulfilled?

245

: 00:13:49

Which project best contributes to

my most immediate needs, whether

246

: 00:13:54

sales awareness, whatever that

looks like, and then which project

247

: 00:13:59

is integral to upholding my values.

248

: 00:14:01

So go through the list of ideas, the

list of projects, and put them through

249

: 00:14:07

that filter and see what is left.

250

: 00:14:11

And then just, you recommend

them setting what's left as their

251

: 00:14:15

focus projects and determining.

252

: 00:14:17

What each week or month

that they should focus on

253

: 00:14:20

jess-_1_05-17-2024_130446: if

you're a solopreneur, a small

254

: 00:14:22

business, this is your monthly focus.

255

: 00:14:24

As you grow a team, you can give

your team members a monthly focus.

256

: 00:14:27

And then that's how you expand.

257

: 00:14:29

But if you're a one man show,

then set one monthly focus.

258

: 00:14:32

And then expand.

259

: 00:14:33

What do you do with all

those other ideas you have?

260

: 00:14:35

You put them in your

idea parking lot in your.

261

: 00:14:37

Project management database.

262

: 00:14:39

It is normal to have a backlog of

ideas that you will implement one

263

: 00:14:43

day as your business can, , scale.

264

: 00:14:45

We didn't talk a lot about chicken and

egg, but you've got to knock some things

265

: 00:14:48

off first so that you can begin to.

266

: 00:14:51

attack those other things as well

and have be resourced to really

267

: 00:14:54

pursue those other things in a

way that is sustainable for you.

268

: 00:14:58

rachel_1_05-17-2024_130446: And

definitely I recommend giving the

269

: 00:15:00

planning episode another listen.

270

: 00:15:02

If you haven't listened to it in a

while, it is one of my favorite episodes

271

: 00:15:06

cause it really does break things down

in a very strategic systemized way.

272

: 00:15:11

And in reality, The way that

small business owners have , never

273

: 00:15:15

really been taught to plan

unless they've had corporate

274

: 00:15:18

experience in the planning realm.

275

: 00:15:21

It really think it's one of those,

the biggest assets you can bring to

276

: 00:15:24

your own business when you know how

to strategically plan your projects,

277

: 00:15:29

how to filter through all of the

ideas and post them out there.

278

: 00:15:33

So one of the things that we hope is

a valuable lesson to any new existing

279

: 00:15:40

or very established business owner.

280

: 00:15:42

jess-_1_05-17-2024_130446: All right.

281

: 00:15:43

So until next week, next week.

282

: 00:15:45

We're going to have the

last episode of this season.

283

: 00:15:47

I don't think we're taking

a very long break though.

284

: 00:15:49

We're just taking a little mini break.

285

: 00:15:51

Where we're going to be sharing the

behind the scenes of the podcast.

286

: 00:15:54

Cause we love to do those.

287

: 00:15:56

For you as always, if you found any

of these tips helpful, make sure you

288

: 00:16:01

share this with one of your biz besties.

289

: 00:16:04

Be sure to follow us on your favorite

podcasting platform and say hi to us on

290

: 00:16:09

either YouTube, Instagram, or Tik TOK.

291

: 00:16:13

And until next week,

292

: 00:16:16

rachel_1_05-17-2024_130446: we're.

293

: 00:16:18

ready for you.

294

: 00:16:20

Never.